A Meal on the Road
Not the round and warm rice in a bowl,
But the angled, cold rice wrapped in plastic.
Not the meal eaten while sitting and chatting together,
But the meal hurriedly swallowed while standing alone,
Like an animal swallowing feed.
We scatter it on the road while eating, but it’s not a food offering to appease hungry spirits.
We get choked, eating it without side dishes or soup.
Abruptly, fishy sorrow surges inside us.
It’s a meal that leaves a chill in the body rather than warming the blood.
.
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Lee Jae-mu : born in 1958, professor, poetry [ I Surrender to Sadness ] etc
Translated by Seung-Hee Jeon (literary critic and translator, editor of Asia: A Magazine of Asian Literature)
